You’re probably wondering if the title of this post contains a typo. It doesn’t. I’ll explain why in a moment. As many of you know, today is the feast of St. Nicholas, the fourth-century Greek Bishop of Myra in Lycia (part of modern-day Turkey) who in the United States and other parts of the world has become identified with Santa Claus.

In the last few days, in anticipation of his feast as well as of Christmas, a number of bloggers have commented on the many fantastical legends...

~ Aristides, Christian apologist; describing the Christian practice of "saying grace" before meals (c. A.D. 123); all the more impressive because his matter-of-fact description denotes a common practice and therefore one of much earlier origin.